Hosea

CHAPTER 5

Guilt of the Religious and Political Leaders

Pay attention, house of Israel,

Household of the king, give ear!^a

For you are responsible for judgment.^*

But you have been a snare at Mizpah,^*

a net spread upon Tabor,

Now I will discipline them all.

and Israel is not hidden from me:

Now, Ephraim, you have practiced prostitution,

Israel is defiled.

to return to their God;^b

For the spirit of prostitution is in them,

and they do not know the LORD.

Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their iniquity,

and Judah stumbles with them.

to seek the LORD, but will not find him;^c

he has withdrawn from them.

for they have borne illegitimate children;

Now the new moon^* will devour them

together with their fields.

Political Upheavals^*

the trumpet in Ramah!

Sound the alarm in Beth-aven:^d

“Look behind you, Benjamin!”^*

on the day of punishment:

Among the tribes of Israel

I announce what is sure to be.

like those who move a boundary line;^{* e}

Upon them I will pour out

my wrath like water.

for he has willingly gone after filth!^*

like rot for the house of Judah.

and Judah his sore,

Ephraim went to Assyria,

and sent to the great king.^{* g}

But he cannot heal you,

nor take away your sore.

like a young lion to the house of Judah;^h

It is I who tear the prey and depart,

I carry it away and no one can save it.ⁱ

Insincere Conversion

until they make reparation

and seek my presence.

In their affliction, they shall look for me.^j

* [5:1] For you…judgment: possibly “for you are called to judgment.”

* [5:1–2] Mizpah: several places bear this name; the best known is in Benjamin (1 Sm 7:6, 16; 10:17). Perhaps this is a wordplay on mishpat, “justice,” “judgment.” Tabor: the mountain that dominates the valley of Jezreel. Shittim: in Transjordan, where Israel committed its first act of idolatry with the Baal of Peor (9:10; cf. Nm 25). At these three places the leaders had misled the people by an idolatrous cult or by an abuse of justice.

* [5:7] New moon: normally a feast day of joy (2:13), but, because of infidelity, it will be a day of destruction.

* [5:8–14] This passage describes political and military conflict between Judah and Israel. Perhaps some allusion is made to the Syro-Ephraimite war of 735–734 B.C., when a coalition of Arameans and Israelites attempted to dethrone the king of Judah (2 Kgs 16:5; Is 7:1–9). Judah repulsed the attempt with the aid of Assyria, and the latter devastated both Aram and Israel.

* [5:8] A vision of invasion, from Gibeah and Ramah in northern Judah, into Israel.

* [5:10] Move a boundary line: invasion by Judah (v. 8) is compared to a case of social injustice (Dt 19:14; 27:17; Prv 23:10–11).

* [5:11] Filth: Ephraim’s reliance on foreign nations and their gods.

* [5:13] Ephraim went…king: in 738 the Israelite king Menahem had to pay tribute to the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III, whose vassal he became (2 Kgs 15:19–20). Under the threat of the Syro-Ephraimite invasion King Ahaz of Judah also submitted to Tiglath-pileser (2 Kgs 16:7–9). Great king: Heb. melek-yarev; may be a proper name: King Yarev, but unknown; or “the defender king”: irony about the great king of Assyria (see note on 10:6).

a. [5:1] Mi 3:1.

b. [5:4] Jer 13:23.

c. [5:6] Is 55:6; Jer 29:13; Am 5:4–6; 8:12; Jn 7:34.

d. [5:8] Jer 4:5; Jl 2:1.

e. [5:10] Dt 19:14; 27:17.

f. [5:12] Is 50:9.

g. [5:13] 2 Kgs 15:19–20; 16:7–9.

h. [5:14] Is 5:29; Am 1:2; 3:12.

i. [5:14] Dt 32:39.

j. [5:15] Jer 29:13; Ps 78:34.